abstract
| - Mister Terrific is asked for help by two aliens while travelling through the Ninth Dimension. They are deserters from the fight against an other alien species known as the Kryl. The Ktryl are a cruel warrior race obsessed wit interstellar conquest. The aliens demand to be given sanctuary on Earth, but before they can escape, they are found. A containment beam shoots out of the approaching ship, and it soon becomes clear to Michael that it was a trap all along. He is the only one who has been captured. The Kryl prepare to enslave him, and he senses the irony that he himself has become a barbarian of sorts. The Kryl hook Michael up to a machine and attempt to pry into his mind, prompting horrifically distorted images of his memories and thoughts to flow through his mind. He wakes from the vision in a holding cell with a number of other aliens from different races. Unfortunately, none of them can speak the same language. Before he knows it, one of the bigger aliens has already decided to begin establishing a hierarchy, and attacks him. Michael dodges in time to send the alien into the hard-light bars across the door. Since no guards come running, Michael deduces that they have been left unguarded. The Kryl's one weakness is that they are overconfident. He examines the bars while evading his attacker enough to realize that he can use his T-Mask, which keeps him invisible to technology, to disable them. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the tools to modify it. His opponents spines may do the trick, though. When the alien doesn't seem to understand what he wants, Michael is unsure of what to do until a much larger alien grabs his attacker and slams it on the ground, yanking the spines off, and passing them to Michael. Thanking his helper and quickly making the modifications, Michael throws his mask through the bars, creating a hole big enough for them all to escape through. The Kryl come running, but they are outnumbered by the angry mob of escapees. With little difficulty, Michael knocks out the guards and steals a translator belt. Using it, he befriends the large alien who helped him before, and they plan how they will escape the rest of the Kryl Army.
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